Tell-Tale Signs that Your Website Needs a Makeover

When people think about their website, a lot seem to believe that ‘good enough’ cuts it. But, in a time where online presence is everything and websites will get severely penalised for not being up to par, neglecting your website could be a fatal mistake.

Who knows, maybe you’re already suffering the repercussions of bad design without you even realizing it. Let’s take a look at some of the most telling signs that your Website Needs a Makeover.

Your Site is more than 3 Years Old

Sorry to say it, but if you haven’t updated your site in the last 3 years, chances are you need to. It might be infuriating if you spent a lot of money on design thinking you would be able to set it and forget it, but that’s not how things work with website design.

The thing is that search engines change all the time. One day, they might favor responsive design and the next advocate for Accelerated Mobile Pages.

And, if you don’t adapt, expect to see a dip in your search engine results. You need to stay on top of these changes at all times and make sure that you’re always compliant with new best practices.

Your Bounce Rate is Going up

If your bounce rates are showing an upwards trajectory, then it could mean that your site’s design needs to be improved.

Maybe your site isn’t mobile-friendly enough. Or it takes too long to load. This one will not only have a direct effect on bounce rates but how your site will be ranked by Google.

The solution here would be to work with a team like WSI Digital Web. Teams like these will be able to run an audit of your site and show you exactly where you could improve.

It could be your navigation, sitemap, mark up, or something else. This can be very difficult to find out on your own, especially without experience, so it’s always a better idea to leave that to professionals.

Poor Conversion

Your conversion rates are also often a reflection of your site’s design. If you make it almost impossible for people to find the thing they’re looking for and pay for it, you’re going to lose some of them. You might also be missing some important elements, like clear calls to action.

This is why you should give your site a good look if it isn’t converting as it should. This is also one of the sign to website needs a makeover.

You Can’t Modify it Yourself

If you constantly have to call and pay someone to make simple additions to your site, then it probably is outdated. Modern websites run on content management systems that allow you to add content in seconds, even with little to no coding knowledge.

If you can’t do it on your own, this probably means that your site is a stand-alone HTML one, which doesn’t cut it in this day and age.

Your Website Isn’t Secure Enough

Security is a top concern for consumers. If your website is hacked, it will cost your business dearly. If thieves steal customers’ financial information, it will cost them, too. Your website must clearly be secure if you want to stay in business. For example, search engines flag websites that lack SSL security.

You can check this by bringing up your website URL. If there’s a small padlock symbol by it, that at least is secure.

The Website Is Chaotic

A buggy website is always a problem. You may have features that don’t work properly, duplicate content or dead links. All of these issues erode customer trust in your website. This can be the result of constantly adding and modifying the site without cleaning things up.

Sometimes the issue is so bad that you can only solve it by rebuilding the website. That may be the best solution if your website is slow to load or isn’t mobile-friendly.

Around sixty percent of websites don’t function well enough on smartphone screens. This is a major problem given that more than half of website traffic comes from mobile devices.

There Is a Poor User Experience

Customers used to search for the cheapest item they could find online. Now they put a premium on convenience and customer service.

For example, users now expect a customized array of products presented to them when they reach the site. You should also give customers detailed information about the product.

Also, try to directly answer the questions consumers have. Show customer reviews in addition to pictures and videos showing how products are used.

Ensure that your Website Needs a Makeover is easy to navigate, especially for those that are using smartphones. And last but not least, give them a direct connection to customer service. The most popular method is building live chat with your team members into the website.

Improve Site Navigation

There are a number of ways you can improve website navigation, but the goal of any changes is to ensure that the information people want is no more than two clicks away.

One approach is using mega-menus. Another is implementing site search. A third approach is adding deep footer links so that people who land on the wrong page are directed to your popular content.

Your Content Is Out of Date

Having a webpage design that’s out of date is bad. However, having content out of date is worse. When your website shows events or blog posts from several years ago, it causes visitors to wonder if you’re still in business.

If you don’t maintain information regarding your business location and hours of operation, you’ll lose out on potential business.

Don’t forget to review the offers, forms and calls to action that come up when someone hits the website.
While you’re updating existing content or adding new content to the website, consider improving the SEO of your webpages, as well.

This is a good time to add alt tags and metadata to existing pages as well as new ones. If your website won’t let you add these, the site needs to be rebuilt.

If you notice any of these signs, then it could be an indication that your Website Needs a Makeover to be either completely redone or upgraded. If you think that’s the case, we strongly suggest you start speaking with a few professionals and see what they can do for you.